Oh, So Here Is Who Can Afford Tesla’s Model S

It’s no secret that Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model S sedan is now one of the most talked about cars on the market. However, its starting price tag of nearly $70,000 still keeps the vehicle out of most consumers’ reach. Car enthusiasts everywhere hear about the sedan’s impeccable style, impressive fuel economy, and high safety ratings, yet many still question who are lucky enough to afford the Model S’s high price sticker.

Luckily for them, we just found out. Forbes highlighted Thursday that a senior analyst from Edmunds recently had the same question, and took the inquiry into her own hands, identifying Forbes’s list of wealthiest ZIP codes and then determining whether the locations correlated with Tesla’s registration data. The Edmunds analyst, Jessica Caldwell, found that the Model S is the best selling car in eight of the 25 wealthiest ZIP codes in America, and there, the sedan even outsells luxury competitors like BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, and Audi.

The information is especially interesting for auto buyers because it finally establishes a pattern as to where Tesla consumers really dwell. While it is unusual for some Americans to eversee a Model S on the road, Caldwell identifies the regions where the car is the most mainstream, and unsurprisingly, those communities with the wealthiest consumers turn out to be the ones most likely to cash in on the Palo Alto, California-based company’s iconic Model S.

According to Forbes, the Model S not only boasts the status of the most-registered vehicle in eight of the country’s 25 most expensive ZIP codes, it is also the No. 1 car in more top-25 ZIP codes than any other vehicle. Tesla enjoys double-digit market share in some of the U.S.’s wealthiest communities, and many are those in the same state that the company is headquartered — good old California.

The state is an especially lucrative one for Tesla, not only because it hosts a significant portion of the nation’s most wealthy, but also because many of California’s citizens are aggressive in their efforts to adopt more environmentally-friendly vehicles. Forbes reports that the Golden State now has a goal to achieve sales of at least 3.3 million vehicles that do not have any emissions by 2025, and luckily for Tesla, it can definitely help fulfill that need.

The Palo Alta-based automaker is now shooting to sell 21,000 Model S sedans by the end of 2013, and it plans to erect much more aggressive goals for the years to come. Luckily for cost-conscious consumers, though, Tesla recognizes the need to get its prices down and appeal to more mainstream buyers, so before long, more auto customers could enjoy what the Model S has to offer.